Englewood-gate

[guido911]

Seems as if an Obama earmark, that never received the appopriated money, is under investigation in Illinois:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/1184049,CST-NWS-watchdog25.article

The money probably wound up as hush money to either the person having the affair with Palin and Palin's former brother-in-law. Maybe both.

[rwarn17588]

Link to latest outrage story goes to a blank page.

(Insert joke here.)

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by rwarn17588

Link to latest outrage story goes to a blank page.

(Insert joke here.)

Is this a "Feh" issue or "Meh" issue?  I can't decide.

Doesn't have a whole lot of traction with me.  Guy helps candidate on campaign, candidate helps secure grant for guy.  Guy creates a sham corporation with his wife, siphons off most the proceeds, project doesn't get finished.

Not Obama's wilfull mischief.

[guido911]

quote:Originally posted by rwarn17588

Link to latest outrage story goes to a blank page.

(Insert joke here.)

The page came up for me.

[rwarn17588]

quote:Originally posted by guido911

quote:Originally posted by rwarn17588

Link to latest outrage story goes to a blank page.

(Insert joke here.)

The page came up for me.

OK ... page with actual content came up later. Must've been some technical issues on the Sun-Times' end.

What Conan said.

[USRufnex]

"And now...... the rest of the story..."

From the article...

Obama and Kenny Smith announced the "Englewood Botanic Garden Project" at a January 2000 news conference at Englewood High School.  Obama was in the midst of a failed bid to oust South Side Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush for a seat in Congress.  The garden -- planned near and under L tracks between 59th Place and 62nd Place -- fell outside of Obama's Illinois Senate district but within the congressional district's borders.

Obama vowed to "work tirelessly" to raise $1.1 million to help Smith's organization turn the City of Chicago-owned lot into an oasis of trees and paths. But Obama lost the congressional race, no more money was raised, and today the garden site is a mess of weeds, chunks of concrete and garbage. The only noticeable improvement is a gazebo.

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***In case you were wondering, Englewood HS was a very poor, downright scary public school on the southside of Chicago... how do I know?... a good friend of mine taught there...  IMHO,  Englewood is the SINGLE WORST NEIGHBORHOOD in all of Chicago... children have been killed in driveby's while in their own homes... if you wonder why Obama is an advocate for gun control, here's as good a reason as any...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-021217englewood,0,666683.story

December 17, 2002

Stunned students at Englewood High School today mourned the loss of one of their most popular classmates, the captain and star player of the school's basketball team who was shot to death outside the school Monday.

Maurice Davis, 18, of the 11800 block of South Vincennes Avenue, was fatally wounded apparently while trying to protect his sister from two other male students, police and school officials said. His sister, 17, was treated for a gunshot wound to the leg at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and was released.

Two "persons of interest" were in taken into custody immediately after the incident and were being held, and police have recovered the gun they believed was used in the shooting, said police Cmdr. Frank Trigg.

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***Very very sad.... and certainly not because a $1.1 mil botanical garden wasn't built under the "el" tracks in Englewood... it's that good teachers who served as mentors and surrogate parents to these kids lost their jobs when Englewood HS was closed down a couple of years ago... most of the kids are from poor single parent families... my friend taught there for a few years before the school was shut down... this is an intense local issue, and it would be very interesting to hear Obama's views on Mayor Daley using his Renaissance 2010 plan -- http://www.ren2010.cps.k12.il.us/overren.shtml -- to turn Englewood HS into a faith-based catholic school (Urban Prep) funded somehow by CPS....

http://www.substancenews.com/content/view/389/81/



A year ago, on February 10, 2006, dozens of community activists testified against Board of Education plans to phase out Englewood High School. Above, community organizer Hal Baskin, protests the attacks on Englewood. Despite widespread opposition to the plans, the Duncan administration appointed a "Transition Advisory Council" consisting mostly of business executives and politicians with no ties to the school and voted to turn the school over to a Catholic charter school operator.

In an act of extraordinary kindness, school CEO Arne Duncan granted new life to the Catholic School System, giving a number of Catholic school based charter proposals the green light. One of the schools, scheduled to replace Englewood High School located at 6201 S. Stewart, is "Urban Prep," a charter school run by former Hales Franciscan principal, Timothy King. Instead of having to raise money to meet his $1 million dollar annual operating costs at Hales, King has effectively maneuvered to get CPS to pay his bills.

The school board voted to close Englewood came almost a year before the vote to give Englewood to Timothy King and his colleagues. As a teacher at Englewood, I have personally witnessed how the closure decision has negatively affected us. We have lost 20 staff members and substantial discretionary funds in less than a one-year period.

The decision to replace an institution that is over 100 years old and serves a community dependent on its services with an untested charter program, strikes many impacted by the decision as flawed. While some defend Mr. King, pointing out his roots in the community — both of his grandfathers and his mother attended Englewood High School — others, who were key players in the process, are yelling foul.

One such critic, Etta Davis, is a lifelong community resident and member of the Transitional Advisory Council (TAC). The TAC is the "team" created by the Board to represent the community in the Renaissance 2010 transitions. Ms. Davis criticized the Board's tendency to switch gears in midstream. She speaks with authority about the numerous attempts by CPS to "solve" school underachievement problems, all of which suffer from a history of failure. In the mid 80s and 90s Englewood experienced a variety of programs and schemes to improve performance, from the efficacy and "children first" plans to the "essential schools" program. By 1997, Englewood underwent "reconstitution." Each time, these magic bullet solutions proposed by downtown failed to deliver. Should we expect different results now that those in charge are turning to the private sector? Indicators and history tell us we shouldn't. In fact, the situation portends to have even more disastrous consequences for at risk youth in the system. Let's take a closer look before passing judgment.

An anonymous source on the TAC says that Urban Prep will probably change the school's student body — even though they claim they are not going to be a "selective enrollment" school. According to the source, "They can determine who will attend their school, unlike Englewood presently. They say they will include students from the neighborhood but students throughout the city can attend. This is a process of elimination, when you can choose which students can attend your school."

In his defense Urban Prep's future principal, Timothy King, says that "by law we have to admit students from the whole district, all of Chicago, but our priority is in the Englewood area and surrounding area. We are recruiting in the immediate area of Englewood and within a five-mile radius of the school."

Joanna Brown-el — a parent of an Englewood student, member of the Local School Council and of the TAC — disagrees. "I was the dissenting vote on the TAC, I don't think Tim King's institution is appropriate," she said. "They are not really doing active recruitment. I haven't heard from people who have been contacted by Urban Prep. We have a preppy school with Catholic origins and needs in the community that can't be met – but if they get students from outside they won't need to worry about not meeting standards."

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***So, what we're talking about here is the equivalent of Tulsa Public Schools turning McLain HS over to people from Bishop Kelley..... Obama has been giving some support to the idea of vouchers... this type of faith-based charter school that replaces a failing public school and uses public funds to do it... well, it raises more questions and is far more interesting than the failure of a botanical garden at Englewood after Obama wasn't "black enough" to win his House race against Rep. Bobby Rush (D), which I suppose was Obama's fault and the original premise of this thread...

Englewood-gate?!?  More to come. [8]